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'First and Worst' local medical cannabis ordinance PDF Print E-mail
Written by Richard Lee   
Oakland permit ordinance needs big overhaul

In the summer of 2003, Oakland City Council began writing the first medical marijuana dispensary ordinance in the country. While the legislation that passed in early 2004 was far from perfect, it was groundbreaking local opposition to federal cannabis prohibition for its time.

Under De La Fuente, Oakland’s dispensary policy became known as “the first and the worst.”

    The ordinance was written during the height of Old Oaksterdam, when ten cannabis outlets occupied and flourished in formerly empty buildings that have since been boarded up again. Before June 2004, patients enjoyed a wide variety of products, competition kept prices low, and hundreds of jobs were created in Oakland.

    Oakland City Council, led by Ignacio De La Fuente, sought to close down this BART-accessible mecca of tolerance, free enterprise and urban revitalization.

    The ordinance called for four special activity permits to be issued to individuals. Along with limiting the number of outlets, the new law imposed severe zoning restrictions. Dispensaries were banned from 95% of Oakland and 1000 feet from each other.

    In September of 2005 two permits were revoked for building code violations. Ten applicants rushed to find suitable locations and complete a lengthy application process for the public hearing a few weeks later. The short deadline, combined with the severe zoning limits, led to a hearing with zero acceptable applicants.

    In late 2005 the process was revised with Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly adding new elements that were not in the original ordinance. Applicants had to pass a virtual civics test on medical marijuana laws.

    Many applicants found the red tape and restrictions too burdensome. Debby Goldsberry from the Berkeley Patients Group, one of the oldest clubs in the bay area with an excellent operating history, pulled out after losing $15,000 in real estate acquisition costs and inspection fees.

    So in January 2006 only six individuals were quizzed on the confusing and often conflicting city, state, and federal laws. When only two applicants passed, Edgerly changed the cutoff to allow four applicants to continue the process and compete for the two available permits.

    The next step is a grading of applications based on a long list of criteria, with site inspections that cost hundreds of dollars, followed by another public hearing.

    The two winning applicants will be given time to remodel, followed by post-construction inspections.

    Permits will finally be issued sometime this summer, after employee background checks and guard training are complete, and a $20,000 annual permit fee is paid.

    However if a charter school or rehabilitation facility leases space within 1000 feet of their site before they open, or anytime thereafter, they would have to find another location, requiring more site inspections and public hearings.

    And that does not even consider the issues such as the need for a better ratio of facilities to local population and allowing on-site consumption — an area in which Oakland lags far behind San Francisco, LA County and most of the state.

    Americans for Safe Access is planning to lobby the City Council this spring to amend the ordinance to make it more fair and reasonable, patient-friendly, and allow clubs to locate closer to public transit.
 
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